Harden unable to shake off rust in Game 2 loss

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The rust that plagued Rockets guard James Harden on Sunday night was still hanging around Wednesday.

The leading scorer had another poor shooting performance, going 6-of-19 from the field for 18 points in the Rockets 112-105 loss to Portland in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets now trail 0-2 in the series as they head to Portland for Game 3 on Friday night.

Harden missed the final game of the regular season to rest. There were six days between that and the start of the playoffs.

When the postseason began, Harden said he was a little sluggish. He went 8-of-28 in Game 1 and scored 27 points.

The Rocket lost that one 122-120 in overtime and Harden took the blame.

“I have to play better,” he said. “I didn’t shoot the ball well. I was rusty. I have to pick it up.”

After practice on Monday, Harden was confident and and ready for Game 2. His teammates and coaches weren’t worried about their superstar bouncing back.

“James has been a lot better and we know he will play a lot better,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said after Tuesday’s practice.

When Wednesday night rolled around, Harden once again struggled to find his rhythm. He went a scoreless 0-for-5 in the first quarter and had just one assist. He got his first field goal of the game with 8:18 to play in the second quarter.

Portland guard Wes Matthews has been the main defender against Harden in both games. He said he isn’t sure what the Blazers are doing against Harden that is keeping him under control.

“I don’t know how much is us and how much is him missing shots,” Matthews said. ‘But we’ll take it either way. I don’t really care. We are just trying to not give him anything easy. He is a microwave. he can heat up really quickly. We are trying to keep him off the free throw line. Trying to keep him out of transition. I am working even harder on the pick and rolls because I don’t want him to be able to run at our bigs and draw fouls that way. We are doing a great job as a team.”

Despite the two rough nights for the team’s star, McHale said he thinks Harden will find his rhythm and be a factor in this series.

“We have to move the ball and attack,” McHale said. “We can’t hold it. We have to set better picks. We have to have more flow.

“James will get it going if we get it going. James is at his best when we are moving up the floor.”

The Blazers will host the Rockets in the next two games of the series. Game 3 will be at 9:30 p.m. on Friday.